With Monday Night War Vol 1 – Shots Fired set for release here in the UK on Monday 10th August we’re taking part in a special look back at the spectacular battle between WWE and WCW – a battle which not only spawned some of the greatest matches in the sports history but also shaped the future of wrestling…

In the 1995 WWE’s biggest competitor, southern promotion World Championship Wrestling, launched its own Monday night television show to go head-to-head with Raw. After luring some of WWE’s biggest name stars down south with record-setting pay-cheques, WCW Nitro started to beat WWE in the ratings for the first time ever. In its effort to even the score, WWE gave birth to the “Attitude Era”, led by the incomparable “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. The result was a bitter war between the two promotions, which saw them trade wins, talents and insults. It would change sports-entertainment forever – and remains one of the industry’s most fascinating ever time periods.

In celebration of the DVD and Blu-ray release of Monday Night War Vol 1 – Shots Fired, check out our infographic charting the TV ratings of Raw and Nitro during 1997 – a year which saw ECW invade Monday Night Raw and Rick Rude make an appearance on both Monday Night Raw AND Monday Nitro on the same night!

And look out for more infographics debuting across the interwebs, covering each full year of the Monday Night Wars (1996-2000). For a closer look at our infographic below, make sure you give it a click: